A didgeridoo? A DIDGERIDOO? Actually that's a good one! I could make a new slouch hat and a right hand holding a boomerang and I've got a whole new Aussi Digger figure!!Anyhow, a quick update - I've done two castings of the final torso mould (biggest one I've done so far!) The first was a quickie to test the mould and revealed a few small blemishes which were easily fixed with my micro scissors as you'll see later. The second one was taken more slowly with some preliminary work before the mould halves went together and bar a single button it's come out perfect! (Just takes a long time swilling that resin around inside!)So here's his right hand...Photo 1 again shows the resin cast arm as it was last time, before the forearm was removed just above the elbow. With the Chindit holding the didg.. - er bamboo in his left hand, he’s using a machete in his right. Using reference photos off the web and estimating the size, I created a plasticard machete out of three pieces, the main sheet forming the blade and tang with two thinner sections forming the wooden grips as illustrated in Photo 2. The only details needed to be added were the three rivets in the handle formed by carefully tapping one of the smaller paper punches into the soft plastic and the hole through the handle (drilled into but not through from both sides). The hand itself was replicated in resin, the original in this case being a much firmer plastic than the left hand was. Unfortunately, whereas the left hand fitted tightly around the bamboo/hazel stick with no gaps, this one, as shown in Photos 3 and 4, has a sizable gap between the machete handle and the palm. Although this is perfectly natural, its going to give big problems when the hand/machete is moulded! Photos 5 and 6 show the gap being filled in with Superfine Milliput, this was the initial filling, once the Milliput began to harden off I did some further carving to remove just enough to block the hole without ‘filling in’ too much of the shape of the hand. Once that was done, the wrist was blended in to the forearm as shown in Photo 7. This entire arm and machete was then moulded as a single entity – however – I then found it was really difficult to cast the whole thing in one go! I could get a good machete blade or I could get a good arm but not both. After trying out various fixes I went back and removed the hand from the arm again and created a new mould for the forearm. So now the right arm is a two piece mould using a new mould to cast just the hand holding the machete and another one for the forearm. The join needs a little filler when assembled but that’s better than wasting so much resin! Again, I haven’t got a photo of the final cast arm so here’s another shot in Photo 8 using the originals instead. In actual fact the arm and machete are posed further to the left than shown here, it’s just that the original arm is a little loose on the torso peg, (with repeated fittings and removals) and it will only stay on if it swings to the right! In the next installment – the Short Magazine Lee Enfield No.1 Mk III*

Before starting the construction of the Chindit’s SMLE rifle, here’s a brief explanation of the differences between a WW1 SMLE Mk III and the WW2 SMLE No.1 Mk3*.What was really strange was that the changes I had to make on the model Enfield were the exact opposite of those I had to do on my own Short Magazine Lee Enfield to put her back to her original condition! My rifle was made in 1914 and went through two world wars before she wore out completely. During that time her original condition changed or ‘upgraded’ to the same as the version I’m modelling here. Through Ebay, and over a couple of years I managed to replace her later additions with the earlier parts to return her to an ‘as new’ condition!Photo 1 shows her with the correct nose cap complete with the Piling or Stacking Swivel behind the Bayonet lug. The nose cap above is the one she came with – the later style without the swivel. Some armourers ground off the swivel lugs, many just removed the swivel and left the lugs intact. Photo 2 illustrates the Magazine Cut Off in it’s out or ‘off’ position. By pushing this plate in through a slot in the ‘action body’ it would block access to the ten round magazine, turning the rifle into a single shot action. You can easily tell a Mk III* action body by the lack of this slot.Photos 3 and 4 show the Long Range Volley Rear or Peep Sight in the retracted and in use positions. These extra sights, along with the front Dial Sight shown in Photo 5 were deleted from the rifles soon after the start of the Great War as the Heavy Machineguns took over the task of long range suppressive fire from the rifle armed troops. Photo 5 as mentioned shows the Volley Dial Front Sight set here at the maximum 2,800 yards. In use you would set the dial to the estimated range and then peer through the peep sight, lining up with the lug opposite the pointer. Finally, before beginning the model version, in Photo 6 here’s what a Lee Enfield No.1 Mk3 looks like without her clothes on! This is her Action Body into which the bolt slides from the rear. She’s been soaked in a bath of de-rusting chemical, which also took off the gun-bluing down to bare metal. She was then polished up with steel wool prior to re-bluing. The cut off slot is visible below the bolt head slide rail, and the thing that looks like a trigger is actually the magazine release catch. The trigger is part of the trigger guard, which screws into the small holes at bottom left and the square metal lug at bottom right.So in the next installment, converting the model SMLE.

Many thanks for that Kev! The old SMLE has always been my favourite Service Rifle and it has been a real pleasure (if expensive) re-building her back to her 1914 condition. She's a real piece of history! So here's her little brother...

The basis for the model SMLE came out of the blue! I’d looked all around the internet and found various models available but all at really steep prices! The chap who designed the head I’m using, Tony Barton, has a variety of resin and pewter weaponry available for sale on his website including the predecessor of the SMLE – the MLE which is almost identical from the middle backwards but with a different barrel muzzle. I went to order that one from Tony mentioning what I needed it for and he kindly announced he had a supply of actual SMLEs, which he’d converted himself from one of the expensive ones I’d been looking at! So all I would have to do is ‘modernise’ it up to WW2 configuration.Photo 8 shows Tony’s resin casting in all its glory, whilst Photos 9, 10 and 11 illustrate the parts which I had to add on to my own SMLE, but have to remove from this one! I tried to make a single mould for my own resin copy to work on but found that there are so many protruding bits on this rifle I just couldn’t get an ‘all in one’ good cast. I decided therefore to break the casting down into three sections using the rifle’s own metal bands as convenient breaks – from the muzzle to the sling swivel, - from there to the action body cup and the wooden butt to add on the end. Photo 12 shows the removal of the rear peep sight, to make it easier I also filed away the safety catch and replaced it was one removed from another failed casting. It is only the centre section that requires any alteration thankfully and Photo 13 shows the preparation for the final casting. I have removed and filled the front volley sight as well as replacing the little rings and screw in front of the magazine. These are not different to the original, they just hadn’t reproduced very well on my copy! The two plastic pins out front and back were intended to marry up with the holes drilled into the other two parts. However, as you can make out in Photos 14 and 15 which show the first silicone mould half and the final casting from that mould, creating the middle section in two stages (like the water bottle) proved difficult. I therefore adapted the top of the mould into a pouring tube. I first mix a small quantity of resin and work it into the details like the sight protector ‘ears’, the rear sight and the trigger guard and let that cure. Then I use the filling tube to add liquid resin until the mould is full and let that cure too. As you can see I now end up with a plug of surplus resin up top, which has to be cut off and the locating peg drilled out and glued in by hand. Although this means more work its better in the long run as regards wasting resin. Photo 16 shows the casting with the plastic rod peg glued in, and Photos 17 and 18 are the three rifle components with the muzzle section about to be glued in position.In the next instalment, completing the SMLE and a quick re-design on an earlier part!Until then, Happy Modelling to you All!

Grateful thanks as ever to Al, Mark, Kev, Ian and Phil! Yep! I've finally managed to complete the whole casting process and I'm now just finishing off the painting of the final figure - plus I've also glued another one together using all trial and reject pieces (as to why, you'll see tomorrow!)Before that, here's a little re-design along the way!

Photo 19 shows the final part of the SMLE – the bolt! This was another piece of the original Tony Barton casting that was extremely difficult to replicate. The bolt was the perfect place for any air bubble to end up so in the end I gave up, cut the thing off and made a small mould just for the bolt and an extra webbing strap (about one inch square in total). It’s now far easier to cast this separately and simply super glue it on at the end!Photos 20 to 24 illustrate the re-design of an essential part of the model – the Bush Hat! Photo 20 was the original prototype of the Action Man Aussi slouch hat, which I made by flattening out the brim in hot water. As the build progressed I began to like the shape of it less and less. I wanted a more ‘floppier’ look to it as seen in many original photographs taken at the time. Finally I took the plunge and laid into a roto cast resin copy with the razor saw, removing the brim to leave the hollow crown of the hat as in Photo 21. I then used the original casting to draw around the circomeference of the brim transferring the outline onto a piece of the wider lead sheet used for the pouches. The 'felt' texture was obtained by placing the lead over coarse sandpaper and both rolling over it and bashing it with a hammer). This was cut out with scissors and the inside part scored into triangles as seen in Photo 22 before the triangles were then bent up and super glued to the interior of the crown as in Photo 23. I could then bend the thin lead sheet into the exact shape that I wanted for the brim and once satisfied, create a new foam base for the hat to rest on (aided by the self adhesive underside) (Photo 24) and then I used this to create a new silicone rubber mould. The end result was far better in terms of shape and the new one actually fits on the full head of the figure without having to trim the top of his head down!In the next instalment – completing the final casting mould for the combined head/torso and upper arms) my first 3D mould!)Until then, Happy Modelling to you All!

Many thanks again to Alan, Ian, Kev and Mark! This whole project has been a huge learning curve for me, but at the same time so enjoyable! The build has progressed a great deal since the last post, in fact he's almost completed with just some extra painting to go once I've replaced my rock hard pot of Humbrol Brass acrylic (it was fine last time I used it!)Before beginning the large final mould for casting the head-torso-upper arms piece, I first had to make up one last part for the figure. This is shown in Photo 1 and consists of a rectangular block from sheet plasticard. The previously sealed off base of the torso is glued onto the white end of the black and white box. The white part is a snug fit into the hollow top of the pedestal shown on the left. I then glued a collar of square styrene rod just below the black section – this will form a channel in the mould up to which the Roto casting resin will be allowed to coat the interior of the mould. With that glued in place I could then finally spray the entire figure with Poundland Grey Primer as seen in Photo 2, to seal in the PVA coated tissue paper shirt ( I’m not really sure how that would take to the liquid rubber!) At last, all the various media used in his construction look ‘as one’. Next job, illustrated in Photo 3 was to take my new large Lego brick base and build a surrounding box to encompass the figure. The torso was then removed and a base layer of about a cm of rubber was mixed and poured into the box and allow to cure. (Photo 4). The Lego brick wall was then built up higher ready for the first half of the mould and a quantity of silicone mixed up ready to pour. Before that however, I used an old paintbrush to liberally paint the rubber across the back of the torso as shown in Photo 5. This would, I hoped, prevent any air bubbles forming under the torso, as the rest of the rubber was poured in and around him. Fortunately it did just that as I later found out! Photo 6 shows the first half of the mould completed and cured. As you can see in this photo and the close up in Photo 7, I placed a series of single width bricks upside down around the edges of the mould whilst the rubber was still liquid and these have produced a good set of locating lugs for the second half of the mould. I now had to build up the Lego wall again for the second half of the mould and as you can see in Photo 8, I was getting a little short on bricks! I was also getting a little short of silicone rubber too! I managed to save a fair quantity however by designing my first ‘split level’ mould as seen in Photo 9. I poured in enough rubber to submerge the torso part up to the 1cm minimum but that left his left arm still protruding. Rather than simply filling the rest of the mould up, I made a little two sided wall, and once the rubber had cured, placed that up against the outer wall and poured another mix in to cover the arm. Placing my jeweller’s anvil on top of the wall gave enough pressure into the solid rubber below to seal the extra ‘box’ until it cured too. Finally, Photos 10 and 11 show the mould being carefully prised apart to remove the model and the two halves of the mould with the prototype. He’s sustained a little damage on the lead webbing, the buckles for the pouches were actually stuck into the front mould but were easily removed. The damage was in fact exactly where I expected it to occur (just less of it!)That just leaves one more small mould to complete the main casting and that will be coming up next.Until then, Happy Modelling to you All!

Many thanks for that Kev! Its only the bamboo and machete to finish now and he's ready for the final gluing together!

After the huge torso mould was completed I tried a trial casting using the last of my original Roto casting resin. The result was pretty good overall but with some notable flaws. Photo 12 shows a close up of the inside of the mould with the arrow pointing at the cause of the main problems. Despite my trying to seal the edges of the webbing straps with Milliput, some of the liquid silicone rubber had in fact managed to seep in underneath giving rise to the ‘ragged edge’ seen here on the shoulder straps. What happens during the Roto casting is that as the liquid resin is slopping around the inside of the mould, air gets trapped between the thin overlap of rubber and the actual detail on the mould. This results in a depression in the surface detail (basically ‘sinkholes’). The solution is very easy however – I just had to go over the entire inside of the two moulds and snip away the excess rubber using the micro-scissors to leave a good clean edge to the impressed strap edges. After cleaning up the moulds I prepared for the second attempt using my new supply of resin. This time however I took some extra precautions! Once the resin was mixed I took a cotton bud and spread the resin along all the moulded straps as well as his ears, (air bubble in the first one), nose (removing the resin ‘bogies’) and the hollow tubes for the locating pegs. The second casting, shown in Photo 13 was almost perfect – in fact the only thing missing was the button on his right shoulder epaulette! I made a new one up and used that to make a plasticene mould to cast a dozen more – why I didn’t think of that on the prototype I can’t imagine! That just left the final small mould for the base of the torso. I cut off the portion of the plasticard box which formed the locating plug for the pedestal made previously, sealed the bottom with a new rectangle of styrene and glued it to the torso base. Then after making a solid rubber base the figure was placed on the rubber in his Lego box and liquid silicone poured in around the waist as seen in Photo 14. This did remove the last of his resin belt buckle on removal but the result was the small mould shown in Photo 15. To employ this one I make up a small amount of the standard resin and pour it into the hollow torso casting (keeping it on its side), and then quickly (I’ve only got about three minutes) fit the rubber mould around the waist ensuring the rubber peg fits in the waist hole and then sit the figure upright on the mould. The resin then flows down into the bottom creating the solid plug shown above the mould. So finally, in Photo 16, the first view of the entire figure! This one is built entirely out of reject and trial pieces, which is why there are air bubbles everywhere! Apart from the base and hat that is, the base is a good one and the hat still needs a grinding down under the brim. I needed to build a complete model though to design and fit the final part – the rifle sling shown here. Oh, and yes he hasn’t got any arms yet – I’ve only made the proper ones for the final figure so far!In the next instalment, making that sling and then the hard part begins – PAINTING!(Actually he’s almost completed now and I’m really pleased with the result!)Until then, Happy Modelling to you All!

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